20 Social Media Networks Facebook Has Outlived

FB stock performance reflects Facebook’s killer instinct

Social Media Networks Facebook Has Outlived: Google Tripped Up by Privacy

New Zealand startup iYomu managed to attract 100,000 members with its pitch as being social media for adults and the added incentive of a $1 million puzzle competition. It lasted less than one year before fading into black in 2008, yet another addition to the list of social media networks Facebook has outlived.

Pownce at least had some tech industry cred — due largely to the participation of Kevin Rose — and it reeked of industry insider exclusivity. That is, until it was opened to the public and bought by a blogging company, ultimately killing interest by 2008.

What happens when a champion of open source software designs a social media website? Mugshot, launched in 2006 by Red Hat (distributor of the open source Linux PC operating system) answer that question. Neat idea, but Facebook was already free, and it turned out social media types didn’t want to mess around with code. Being open source, Mugshot took a while to die (when Red Hat abandoned the project, others took up the cause), but by 2012 it was history.

Akoha launched in 2007 with the idea to “create a new type of community to highlight fun, real-world activities that would help people explore and enjoy life to the fullest.” But Akoha failed to translate these fun missions to revenue the way FB stock has, and the social media service shut down in 2011.

Google Buzz was a 2010 attempt to provide Gmail users with social a social networking service to take on Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately for Google, the primary buzz generated by this FB stock competitor was around lax user privacy (ultimately resulting in a class action lawsuit against the company) and the service only lasted until 2011.